About Us

Saturday, June 30, 2018

By Nydia Tungsten on June 28, "I saw a few videos with this song and decided to try my hand at it, and I
figured why not show you all more of where we do this at.
Every one of the shots was taped in a public area in the Sunweaver
Island chain, where we live and play in the world we call Second Life."

TERA Newsfox Malya, President of the Bixyl Fan Club of TERA (and Vice-President, with a vice only for fresh pepper!) reporting that the TERA Summer Festival has gone off without a hitch, since the posts were removed after mounting horses or dragons was deemed to be too perverted... Tonight at the Temple of the Wisdom Tree it seems the Vampirs are having a bloody-good time... not so much for their human hostages, but hit them with a holy spell and even Vampirs will run around high on the hog since they get turned into... hogs and their bacon gets fried! Holy bad pun-ch lines, Batnotman! Even the sloths in the temple are having a party! But it's a rather crappy situation for those who clean it up... trust me, at the moment the entrance smells like real big dump at the moment! Shaved ice, on the other hand, is this summer's coolest treat, and quite cold when it falls off it's cone and hits you. I recommend wearing strawberry red dresses like mine, so the stains of Vampir's Blood flavoring doesn't stain! ...much! Tank battles seem to happen here a lot for some reason! And being tanked, it is no wonder why the the players driving them can't hit anything! Anywho, this is Newsfox Malya of the Bixyl Fan Club of TERA, signing off! And autographs! This message was brought to you by TERA-Bull Vampir Repellant and Shaved Ice Flavorings, the vendor stall where the featherweight jokes are so bad they will tickle DJ SnowBuns into fleeing from last week's bakery as one hawt, cross Bun to say "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" No actual bunnies or DJs were tickled in response to the making of this advertisement, thank you!

Friday, June 29, 2018

One of the first things most new residents learn in Second Life learn is how to fly. But not everybody wants to "Superman" around. And there are those with a love of airplanes. So for those wanting to fly around in style, the annual air show at Farshore Field allowed for some aerial antics, as well as other activities. As the show is held in support of the Relay for Life's Sunbeamer team, it's considered a key event that brings in a great deal of donations. And once again, this year the show put the Sunbeamers into a record level of fundraising.

Rita Mariner has been writing a series of reader-submitted articles on the water-based survival game "Subnautica." Today, we present the seventh and final part of her review. Here, she describes to get what you need to reach the last of the alien buildings you'll need to get into. You'll finally be able to deal with a certain problem that's been attracting a certain kind of monster to you for a while. And not every creature you meet is out to get you. Finally, there's what to get for the last big thing you'll need to make: the escape rocket that allows you to leave the planet and win the game.

While Deaf was visiting Trotsdale, she came across two places of note. One was the cafe, named "Stagbucks," a social gathering spot where one could get a cup of coffee. The other was the Trotsdale Library, which is where a number of literary events are held. She went back to both of them, having a few words with their respective owners, Skye Wishbringer and Amehana Arashi.

"Volunteer Closing Party. -- We hope you are enjoying exploring SL15B for
this whole week without lag or crowds! The closing party will be on Sunday 1st July at around 12pm SLT through to 4pm
SLT. We will be at Mikati's stage for the explosion, then move on to
Stage Left, The Serpent. Check notices running up to the weekend for
more info."

Treacle Darlandes

*Addition* After the announcement on Thursday night, there was a correction saying the "Cake Explosion" was at 4PM, not Noon.

On Saturday June 23 at a little after 10:30 AM, the Giant Snail Racers had a cross-sim race that started on their home sim, and went through the sims of the Raglan Shire tiny community. The race had the usual zany antics of the Snail Races, with cannons launching the snails over gaps in the race track.

"Can the benefits of nature walks for psychological well-being and
cognitive ability be replicated in a purely virtual environment? The
island of Natmoud was built in the virtual world of Second Life (SL) to see whether immersion in such an environment is possibly therapeutic. Residents of SL
were invited to visit Natmoud and comment in writing on their
experience while there. Reading and analyzing these comments with TROPES
semantic software allows us to identify the main factors contributing
to a relaxing and comforting atmosphere. The implicit hypothesis that a
virtual representation of nature can be soothing is confirmed. We also
find that wildlife – which is abundant on the island * –appears to be
the main feature that catches the attention of walkers. Given that these
verbatim transcripts from a small convenience sample reflect, with one
exception, the emotions felt by women, the results cannot really be
generalized. In the analyses, the anonymity of the avatars is preserved
by using initials, even though in all the cases the participants
consented to the reproduction of the emotions they expressed."

Saturday June 30
9AM to 10 AM PST
By Dr. Stephen L. Gasior "The most common conception of evolution is that the hardiest survive.
Darwin proposed another type of competition–that for mates within a
species. When competing for mating partners the ability to find the
right match and display your wares become important forces shaping the
evolution of physiology, chemistry, and the brain. This talk explores
the science of sexual selection in humans. Sexual selection has been
well established in animal species for half a century, but the ability
to study it in humans is relatively recent. Using the documentary The
Science of Sex Appeal as a scaffold, this talk helps us update Darwin’s
Theory of Evolution. "

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Among the exhibitors at the Second Life Birthday is Kimbe (kimblecoles). With her work on climatology in real life, her exhibit in SL15B Electrify is about the science behind the theory of climate change. Deaflegacy met up with her, and they talked about not just the exhibit, but about how she's gone about Second Life and how she handles her challenges in both real-life and the virtual world.

With the Second Life Birthday coming to a close, the attention of residents on the lookout for goings-on across the Grid falls on the next big yearly event: the Relay Weekend. The sims are on the ground, and the track has been laid out, the one over the American Cancer Society sim made as a bridge.

Thirty sims make up this year's track. This is a little more than last year's track. Besides the yearly names such as Hope, Healing, Inspire, and others, there are also the names of continents added, such as Antarctica and Australia south of the ACS sim. And there are a few off-track sims set up for events, such as boating.

The Relay Weekend is on Saturday July 14 to Sunday July 15. Stay tuned for more updates and sneak peaks as the clock ticks to the big event.

On Sunday June 24 from 9AM to 3PM in a four-sim area in the Blake Sea was the "Raft-Up" event. This was a six-hour Relay event held by the Sail for Life team. There was music, dancing, and lots of boats of all sizes.

Besides the Relay kiosks, one could also donate by purchasing tickets to a raffle. One would "add" the ticket, then touch the raffle drawing they wanted to enter. Single tickets cost 100L each, with larger amounts costing less per ticket. Among the prizes available were boats and sailboats.

The event was packed, and yours truly crashed a number of times, so I didn't stay long. Sail for Life has been a long-lasting team in the Relay, having been around for a number of years. Their team page shows them as having raised $1015 US dollars, or a little over 250,000 Lindens, Platinum level fundraising.

With contact lists sometimes called "friend lists," it seems what a friend is has gotten a little fuzzy. But when a person isn't just someone you know but likes you, what makes a friend genuinely a true friend. Deaflegacy pondered the question, and asked a few friends of hers about what they felt it meant.

Art can sometimes be strange, weird, even disturbing. But at what point should an artist be punished for his or her work? Late last month, satirical artist Kake Broek announced he had been permanently banned by Linden Lab. This sparked protests, and questions about just why the satirist had been expelled from the virtual world.

On Sunday June 24, Veterans Isle held their monthly fundraiser concert. The event, organized in part by Frets Nirvana, was in support of the Homes For Our Troops charity. From 4 to 9PM SL time, one DJ and a number of live musicians performed for the crowd, which at one point brought the number of people in the sim to 67 people. As the musicians played, people donated to two house-shared kiosks on either side of the stage.

Waya Snowpaw was the DJ for the first hour. Then David Csiszer sung live to the crowd. Following them was the band Quadradix. But there was someone extra among thing, singer Maxilillion Klene. It was in their hour that the money donated shot past the 100,000 mark. They were followed up by Nina Bing and Lyndon Heart.

The event raised a total of 153,200 Linden dollars. This was the biggest event that the Newser has seen at the Isle in months in terms of audience and cash donated.

Monday, June 25, 2018

The official events of the Second Life Fifteenth Birthday are over. Except for the "Cake Explosion" later this week, no other happenings are planned. But that doesn't mean the fun has come to an end. With fewer people around, the lag is less, and you can enjoy the exhibits more. Or perhaps there are some you haven't seen yet, some you want to see again, or both. Gemma Cleanslate has been going around the SL15B sims, and wrote on more exhibits.

There are avatars of all kinds in Second Life. This includes the cartoon ponies made by fans of the "My Little Pony" cartoon which has aired for several years and has a attracted a following not just of kids, but also young adults (and a few not so young). Some of these fans in Second Life made a community for themselves, often called the Trotsdale community after the name of the main sim of the estates. Deaflegacy went by had a few words with one of the locals, and had a look around.

Sunday June 24 was the last day, at least officially, for events at the Second Life Birthday grounds. And people had one last chance to enjoy the parties there. And there were a number.

At 8PM the night before, it was the "Live Music with Dance and Special Light Show" by "Tuna Oddfellow. It wasn't at one of the stages, but at a special platform over 650 meters in the air. For those who hadn't seen his "Odd Ball" performances before, it was quite an experience. For those interested, Tuna has recently resumed his Odd Ball. Instant-message him to find out when his performances take place.

At 12 Noon at the Cake Stage, DJ Tantari.played some tunes for the crowd. She played her "Space First Stage" set of music.

For about two hours, the high-energy blue vixen wowed the crowd with her sci-fi tunes.

Not everyone listening was on two legs. At one point a black unicorn showed up.

The exhibits were up and running as always, though the action was mostly at the clubs

By late in the night, the events at Stage North (above), the Central Stage, and even Stage Left wound down. The action was at The Cake.

At 11PM, people gathered at The Cake for the last official party, and in a sense the last hurrah.

Besides the regular-sized avatars, there was a giant, and a large anthro dragon.

But regardless of how we looked, we were there for the same reason, to end the celebrations with a bang.

Among those there was cake builder Mikati Slade.

But all good things must come to an end. And at Midnight, DJ A.F.I. closed her set with a display of fireworks.

But while this is the end of the official events, this is not the end of "The Birthday." The sims will remain up and open to the public until July 1, and so most of the exhibits will remain as well (It always seems at least one guy jumps the gun and leaves right away). And there is the tradition of the "Cake Explosion," which will be sometime later this week.

"Hello! TERA's very own news fox and the president of the TERA Bixyl News Fox Fan Club (and vice president... with no vices!) here! Big news tonight! Participants of the PvP Battleground "Kumas Royale" found their challenge tonight to not so much be a piece of cake... as the battle was to bake cakes! Not as easy as pie, it would seem! As the red team got creamed with pies, it seems! Consensual, being a battleground, of course!

In the end, the strain proved to be too much for one Human as he ended up completely baked on his own brownies, which ironically did not score very high. In the end, it was a star player in another game who won and beat them all, eggs included. The one and only Naughty Nydia baked a cake so royale it became a total flush across the internet for the players in Kumas, their failed attempt becoming only a royale pain in the tail to clean up.

Signing off, live from the local studio TERA Bull Puns and News, the one and only News Fox Malya, Bixyl News Fox Fan Club President! This message was brought to you by the following sponsor: Half-Baked Puns-R-Us, where the puns are so stale, they make DJ Snowy go 'BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!'

While the Cake Stage at the Second Life Birthday has been a longtime favorite, for the past three years, the Stage Left builds constructed by Faust Steamer have gotten some attention, and for good reason.

Faust has made his Stage Left builds with skill, with both detail and that they're able to move. This year's build, "The Serpent," has a huge snake winding around a dark, foreboding structure.

Not exactly the most comforting thing, seeing a huge enormous predator, especially when it's looking right at you.

But while the place may be scary, the music by the DJs are plenty of fun. Stage Left is at SL15B Mesmerize (128/227/25).

This is the last day of SL15B events. The sims will remain open to the public until July 1, but if you want to catch any more of the parties, stop by today.

Come down, sail down or just TP over for the 6th Annual Blake Sea Raft-Up. Raffle prizes, live DJ's ALL day and of course boats and more boats. All proceeds benefit RFL and Sail4Life. It's a HUGE four sim party. Look forward to seeing u there.

Saturday, June 23, 2018

There's so many exhibits to see at the Second Life Birthday, The Newser can't show you all of them. But we can show you a sample of what's there. Following her trip on Press Day, Gemma Cleanslate went to the SL15B grounds again to check more of them out.

Should be a crazy race. I'm not done setting out arrwos yet but if you want to test the track come on on over and follow the "snail arrows." Gullwing Coast Racers (129,91,30)Everything you need is inside, theme is nature. Any donation is welcome 500 suggested."This year not using the acorns, it's slingshots and cannons. Starts right here, crosses over on the bridge (leading to Raglan), then ends at the sili cube."
See you at the races.

Friday, June 22, 2018

There's a lot to see and do at the Second Life Birthday. There's the Auditorium, there's the three stages, there's the dozens of exhibits, and more. Bixyl Shuftan was there to check out some of the places, as well as catch a few goings-on.

Deaflegacy recently talked to some people about the "RFL Rabbit V2," an avatar modification. Not a complete avatar, but parts made to give another a purple coat of fur and other small changes, it was made by Astra Noctura (Silverskyranch) to raise money for the Relay for Life's Meli's Maniacs team. Deaf talked to her and a few from Team Sunbeamers whom had bought and used the mod.